Mark Wietecha

The problem is that hospitals are big and getting bigger, going from building to buildings to campuses.  They are expensive and getting more expensive.  At some point, we have to ask: is this really how we want to spend our healthcare dollar? Some hospitals are figuring other ways to spend their -- I mean, "our" -- money on our health.  Take Nationwide Children's Hospital.  Located in a somewhat blighted neighborhood of Columbus (OH), its Healthy Neighborhoods Healthy Families (HNHF) program "treats the neighborhood as the patient," as their summary in Pediatrics put it. The hospital is leading a partnership that has built 58 affordable housing units, renovated 71 homes, given out 158 home improvement projects, and helped spur a 58 unit housing/office development.  They've also hired 800 local residents and instituted a jobs training program.